


Exploded Cubes

by blackflowercrowns



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Era, race can't wrap for shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 10:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17140499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackflowercrowns/pseuds/blackflowercrowns
Summary: “And where are all the things you’ve already wrapped?”“Right here.” Race pointed at a pile of gift wrapping paper behind him.Albert squinted. “Are you sure? That looks an awful lot like a pile of multi-coloured garbage.”“Gar-bage,” Race said. “High-class trash. And yes, I’m sure.”





	Exploded Cubes

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas prompt:
> 
> “You’re making a mess.” “Shut up and pass me the tape.” “There’s more tape on that present than wrapping paper.”

“So who’s this one for?” Albert asked, setting his mug of steaming tea on the floor before joining his friend in a cross-legged position on the floor.

“My mom,” Race explained, sweeping some excess gift wrap away to give Albert more room. “She said her whisk broke a few weeks ago so I got her a new one. And some Tupperware, because she never has any.”

Albert surveyed the mess that was their living room. “Where are all the other things you need to wrap?”

Race gestured somewhere to the left. “Over there.”

“And where are all the things you’ve already wrapped?”

“Right here.” Race pointed at a pile of gift wrapping paper behind him.

Albert squinted. “Are you sure? That looks an awful lot like a pile of multi-coloured garbage.”

“Gar- _bage_ ,” Race said. “High-class trash. And yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re making a mess,” Albert sighed, taking a sip of his tea before grimacing. Still hot.

“Shut up and pass me the tape.”

Albert rolled his eyes but handed the tiny dispenser over. “There’s more tape on that present than wrapping paper.”

Race shot Albert a look. “So it doesn’t fall apart.”

Albert snorted. “She’s not gonna be able to open it, Race.”

“Yes, she will. My Christmas presents are the reason we all get pocket knives in our stockings.”

Albert burst into laughter. “You mean to tell me,” he wheezed, “your wrapping is so awful _you inspired an entire tradition around it_?”

Race grinned sheepishly. “Yes?”

Albert was struggling to sit up straight at this point, instead laying flat on his back as his giggles escaped him. “You’re a mathematician! This is an exploded cube! This is literally what you go to school for!”

“Albie! Stop laughing! I’m trying!”

“What the fuck, Racer!” Albert laughed some more. “This is hilarious.” Albert sat up to see Race pouting with a classic sad puppy dog look on his face. However, being roommates, the sad puppy dog look didn’t work on Albert.

“Stop laughing,” Race said, trying to sound sad, but he couldn’t disguise the mirthful undertones. “Nobody ever taught me how to do this.”

Albert laughed for a few more seconds before scooting closer to Race. “Alright, let me teach you then. See if you can actually learn something from your time in college.”

Race rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

Albert took the wrapping paper and laid it out in the floor, unwrapping about two feet, pattern side down. Luckily, this roll was one with the little graphs on the back. He then took a Stitch Pop Vinyl figurine and set it against the paper. “Okay, so you take the box and set it flat. Then you flip it one, two, three times to the side, see?”

Race nodded.

“And I’m never sure about this part, but I think you then flip it twice upwards? I don’t know, we’ll find out in a second.”

Race snorted. “I thought you were gonna teach me how to do this, not doubt your own abilities.”

“Hush, I know what I’m doing.” Albert stuck out his tongue. “Then you take the scissors and poke a hole at the top corner,” he poked the hole, “and move the box. Then cut two lines to the hole you poked.” He handed Race the scissors and leaned back so he could cut the paper.

Race cut along the lines up until the hole, then set the scissors down. “Okay, now what?”

Albert rolled up the excess into the roll before laying the box face down on the rectangle they had left. “Always lay it face down, so when they open the gift, it’s already facing them. Fold these two sides over the back,” he grabbed the paper and folded it so that the stripes matched up, “and tape it.”

Race grabbed the tape dispenser and immediately began pulling off a piece of tape that was around, oh, fifty feet long.

“RACE! Not that long! Like an inch, at most!” Albert yelled.

Rae spluttered. “You didn’t say!”

“I thought you knew!”

Race looked Albert dead in the face. “What about this,” he motioned to his previously wrapped packages and mass of gift wrap, “insinuates that I know anything about how to do this.”

“Whatever,” Albert blew his hair out of his face. “Just tear off a smaller piece.”

Race grumbled to himself but cut off a smaller piece before placing it on the seam that Albert was currently holding together.

“Good. Now you fold these two bottom parts into triangles and fold them over each other. This is where you see if you fucked up the measurements.”

Race giggled.

Albert smiled. “And, as usual, you can see that I have overestimated the size of this box. So, we cut off the excess,” he grabbed the scissors and made a few snips at the paper, “and continue with business as usual.”

Race nodded.

“Fold and tape. Then do the same on the top, and you’re done!” Albert grabbed the piece of tape from Race, settling it over the tip of the triangle. “You wanna have a go at the top?”

Race’s face lit up in a cheeky grin. “Are you insinuating I’m a bottom?”

Albert’s cheeks went red. “Absolutely not. Shut the fuck up. I hate you, oh my gosh.”

Race started giggling. “Sure, Albert, I’d love to try to top for the first time.”

Albert stood, and ignoring the feeling of pins and needles that filled his legs, began walking out of the room. “I’m disowning you. Unfollowed, unfriended, blocked-”

“Albie, wait,” Race wheezed from his spot on the floor. “I still need you to teach me how to wrap!”

“Not with that fucking attitude you don’t! Wrap the whole thing in duct tape, see if I care!” he shouted over Race’s laughter, slamming the dorm room door behind him as he stepped into the hall.

And really, when their dorm held Secret Santa that weekend, he should’ve foreseen that his package would be wrapped entirely in grey duct tape.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr! Main is @we-dont-sell-papes, writeblr is @rightwaytowriteit


End file.
